An outing to Tunis

As The Times reported (October 17), the Hamrun Scouts Group was formed over 90 years ago. The headquarters then were situated in Victoria Avenue (now renamed Guze Pace Street), corner with Abela Street, later moving to Villambrosa Street and, finally, to their present location in Old Railway Avenue, Hamrun.

When the group was located in Guze Pace Street parades were held three times a week. The group used to march down to Villambrosa Street and up again to their headquarters. The band was 40-strong.

The Hamrun group was one of the largest on the island. The inhabitants of Guze Pace Street used to sit on chairs lining both pavements enjoying the band. The group was involved in many activities, such as at St George's Day in Valletta, accompanied by the band.

On the sports side, the group had a football team that won the much-coveted Musgrave shield which is still kept at headquarters. The group also took part in athletic meetings organised by the Island Scout authorities.

In August 1939, the group was invited for a fortnight's stay in Tunis, reciprocating the visit to Malta a year before. Not all the group could make it. Finally, a contingent of 17 scouts, headed by Group Scout Master Charles Jones, went over.

The contingent were to travel on Italian liners, the ss Praga to take us there and the Italian ship the ss Garibaldi.

When the contingent arrived in Tunis they were met by the British consul (Malta was then a British colony) who spoke to our leader. The consul told Mr Jones he was surprised how the Malta authorities let the contingent proceed as war clouds were forming. Mr Jones told the consul that the highest authorities in Malta gave us the go-ahead. Mr Jones was then asked whether any among the contingent had office work experience as most of his staff were French subjects who were conscripted for military duty. There were seven of the contingent who volunteered to help in office work.

Our hosts treated the contingent very well and provided the necessary accommodation. Each member of the contingent had enough money for our planned stay of two weeks. What happened was totally unexpected as the Italian ship, the Garibaldi which was to take the contingent back to Malta, was held back by Italy, which declared war against the allies. By then their money had gone. The problem was overcome by the generosity of the Tunisian scouts whose families fed us every day at breakfast, lunch and supper.

For our return, Mr Jones and senior members of the contingent tried to reach a deal with Tunisian fishermen to get us back to Malta but the British consul who was responsible for the contingent's safety opposed the idea as the fishing boats, although very big, did not have enough life saving equipment.

However, the Maltese boat - the Golly - that used to ferry passengers to Gozo and back arrived for a cargo of beans and it transpired that this boat had enough life saving equipment for the contingent and other civilians who wanted to return to Malta after their holiday in Tunis. It took the Golly five days to get to Malta.